About Us

The Medical Immersion Summer Leadership Academy provides high school students across the country with a competitive edge and opportunity to learn about a breadth of health careers through hands-on skills training, mentorship and clinical immersion. Participants interact daily with experts and leaders in the field and have the opportunity to observe direct patient care in a busy urban hospital.

Our Leadership

Jocelyn Freeman Garrick, MD MS attended medical school at the University of Southern California and trained in Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Jacobi/Montefiore Emergency Medicine Residency Program in New York and served as chief resident during her final year in 2001. She is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician who, after completing her residency, obtained a Masters in Science in Epidemiology from Cornell University. Dr. Freeman Garrick is currently an attending physician at Alameda County Medical Center- Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. In that role she is the EMS Base and Emergency Preparedness Director.

Asha Vitatoe received her B.A. from Emory University in African American Studies and has been working in Youth Development for the past ten years. She began working with youth in Atlanta and moved back to the Bay Area to continue that work. As a dedicated Youth Development professional she has worked hard to develop and deliver quality programming and mentorship. An Oakland native, Asha is passionate about working with young people to identify, pursue and achieve their goals for their future.

Denae Reed, PA-C has been a Physician Assistant for 18 years with a focus in Emergency Medicine and Forensic Examinations for Sexual Assault Victims. For the past 15 years she has worked at Alameda Health System, Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. Her other areas of clinical practice have included Women’s Health, Adolescent and Geriatric Care in the Bay Area. Mrs. Reed graduated from the 32nd PA Class at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, in Los Angeles, after receiving her B.S in Health Science, with a Minor in Human Biology from CSU, Hayward.